This quick 4-hour course is intended for investigators with some experience handling social media investigations. The focus of the class will be how to effectively utilize social media to locate wanted person(s) / fugitives from justice, including warrant subjects or persons of interest in serious cases such as homicides.

Students will learn about the applicable use of Pen Register Trap Trace Orders to social media providers, and what data can be collected. Some social media platforms can provide close to real-time location data for suspects, while other platforms may only be able to provide IP address data.

Students will learn how to use the IP address data to work with cellular providers and internet service providers to identify suspect cell phones and ping them, or to determine where the suspect is connecting to the internet (and social media) – their likely location. This can sometimes be challenging due to many internet service providers delaying production of records for days or weeks – discussions will be had about how to work through these potential delays and circumvent them with exigency, when situations allow.

Students will review and discuss real-world case studies on how social media helped to locate serious violent fugitives.